You might have seen the compromise meme going around the net at the moment.

I made one of my own, very tongue in cheek.

They're funny, aren't they? Cheeky. But not realistic.

Actually, when I stop and think about it, I can't think of any couples I know who are not both devoted to their pets. Sometimes one spouse will stay home with the geriatrics or babies and let the other bring their dogs to the races or shows. Sometimes one partner will be more enthusiastic about an aspect of their doggy life style than the other.

But I don't know anyone who would ignore their partner saying "I don't want to do that" and go ahead to do it anyway. Maybe because I have so many doggy friends who are involved with rescue, who see dogs dumped for some very specious reasons and occasionally a more legitimate reason. When you see a dog separated from its family because of a divorce it cannot begin to understand, and you see the confusion and grief in that dog's face, you know you have to provide a secure home for your own dogs. When you see a dog kicked out of its family because of a new baby or a new house, you know you have to consider any changes to your own dogs' lives carefully.

J and I can't really say we have a dog team anymore. With both Ishka and Frankie retired, and Bolo unsuitable for a two-dog team, only Czar can expect to race regularly this year. We've been offered some amazing dogs over the past year, but we've turned them down. Very reluctantly.

As much as we both love racing and all the other things we do with our huskies, we felt unable to commit to more dogs at this point in time. We are getting married, hoping to buy a house and start a family. (The kind with bald puppies who come with two feet instead of four.) With our current, older, quieter dogs, we know we can move to a smaller, more affordable property if need be. We trust our current dogs won't be constantly boisterous with small children, especially as we are able to use crates, pens and playpens to separate both kinds of babies. And our dogs currently don't need the kind of high energy time that puppies and yearlings do, so we know we have an opportunity to put time into other things, without running the risk of having our yard or home destroyed by younger dogs who are bored by our lack of attention.

I am hopeless at predicting the future - never in a thousand years would I have told you that I'd be marrying a guy with four huskies at the age of 35! So I'm not sure what I can say about what our future holds. Certainly our current plans do include rebuilding our dog team. Just not yet. And when we do, it will be because we are both committed to it, not as any kind of compromise.